Worker hurt when he falls 10 feet

April 11, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Huntington Beach fire engines leave after rescuing and treating a worker at the Orange County Sanitation District who fell about 10 feet into a vault. The worker is expected to survive minor injuries Thursday. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A Huntington Beach Fire engine leave after helping rescue and treat a worker at the Orange County Sanitation District who fell about 10 feet into a vault. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A worker at the Orange County Sanitation District in Huntington Beach fell about 10 feet into a vault, but is expected to survive minor injuries Thursday. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Huntington Beach fire engines leave after rescuing and treating a worker at the Orange County Sanitation District who fell about 10 feet into a vault. The worker is expected to survive minor injuries Thursday.KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

HUNTINGTON BEACH – A worker at an Orange County Sanitation District plant was injured Thursday after falling about 10 feet into a concrete vault, a Fire Department official said.

The man, who was working on wooden framing to construct a concrete wall at 22212 Brookhurst St., fell into the vault around 11:40 a.m. and could not get out because of his injuries, said Capt. Bob Culhane of the Huntington Beach Fire Department.

Three co-workers stayed with the man in the vault until firefighters arrived. Because the space was too narrow, the firefighters could not pull him up. Urban search and rescue team members were called to help get the man out, using an on-site crane to lower a rescue basket, Culhane said.

The worker was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana just before 1 p.m., Culhane said.

"He had some significant injuries, but they weren't life threatening," he said.

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